In general, personal care articles should comfortably fit the body of a wearer. Personal care articles generally have fastening tabs at the rear of the personal care article that extend outwardly and secure to a front portion of the article. For the personal care article to be effective, the front panels of the article need to be properly placed and maintain their position relative to the fastening tabs, the front waistband, and the rear waistband of the article.
Personal care articles need to be properly fitted to the body of a wearer. In the past there has been little thought or concern as to the positioning of the grasping panels with respect to the body of the wearer and the waistband sections of the personal care article. For standard personal care articles having no stretch in the waistband, except for that caused by waist elastics, known grasping panels tend to maintain their position.
However, when the personal care article has a stretchable outer cover, at least in the front portion thereof, and the grasping panels are integral therewith, or are made of a stretchable material, the grasping panels do not function properly because stretch tends to accumulate at points grasped by the user of the panel, thereby distorting the shape of the grasping panel in the process of securing the personal care article on the wearer.
The invention described herein solves the above problem by providing a substantially non-stretch grasping panel in combination with a stretchable outer cover, thereby permitting more uniform stretch across the entirety of at least the front waistband section of the personal care article. In this manner, the personal care article provides a better fit for the wearer. For example, using the invention, grasping panels of the personal care article are unlikely to roll up, and thus maintain a somewhat planar configuration, when the panels are placed adjacent the body of the user and extended.
The invention also includes locating the landing zone of the personal care article at a location overlying at least part of the absorbent core. As a result, when in use, at least part of the fastening tabs secured to the landing zone overlie the absorbent material. When properly positioned, the landing zone can secure the fastening tabs at an ideal location spaced from the front edge of the article and overlying the absorbent material.